(FR/Versatile Records/Studio !K7)
 
Parisian Joakim Bouaziz, founder of the eclectic Tigersushi label, is a French electro producer/remixer/DJ whose brand of genre cross-cutting, punked-up house is infamous. His sprawling style gleans elements from pop, new-wave, dark-wave, punk, industrial, disco and house. He combines digital and analogue electronic production with instrumentation in a live band set up in which he plays keyboards, guitar, laptop and sings. Joakim is well known as a remixer, producing a prolific amount every year.
 
Until he was seventeen Joakim was totally immersed in the world of classical music. He began playing the piano at the age of six, and was apparently fortunate enough to have the well-known Lebanese pianist, Abdel Rahman El Bacha, as his teacher. After graduating from the prestigious National Conservatory of Versailles, Joakim immersed himself in jazz, American and British indie rock such as Pavement and The Pixies, as well as hip-hop. In the mid 90s he discovered labels like Warp and MoWax, inspiring him to begin experimenting with a keyboard and sequencer a few years later.
 
Joakim’s first release came in 1999 under the Joakim Lone Octet moniker after he handed a demo to Gilbert Cohen aka DJ Gilb-r, owner of the label Versatile. The debut, Tigersushi, was a funk infused electronic album with references to 60s modal jazz.
 
In 2001, Joakim founded his own label, using the title of his debut, Tigersushi, for the name. From the beginning, Tigersushi was an exceptional label, living up to its mission statement to draw connections between disparate genres. Starting with an odd pairing of John Tejada and Cluster on a split 12”, the label released work from artists such as Mu, Maurice Fulton and electro experimentalists Psychic TV. Tigersushi went on to help shape the current sound of the French capital with bands like Panico, Principles of Geometry, Volga Select, and the infamous compilations More G. D. M. (God Dam Music) & Kill the DJ.
 
Joakim’s next album, Fantômes (2003) saw him veering sharply into dancefloor territory with the bass-heavy club hit, 'Come into my Kitchen', while maintaining a mix of elements reminiscent of 80s punk, electro pop, funk, and ambient. Around the same time, Joakim was part of the duo K.I.M. with Florence Lucas making music full of absurdity that crossed through punk, rock and film music.
 
Since 2003, Joakim has been released a slew of remixes. In 2006, he reworked tracks from top international artists: Tiga, Ivan Smagghe, Detroit Grand Pubahs, Tiefschwarz, Chateau Flight, Fisherspooner, and Antena’s Camino Del Sol – one of the biggest club hits of the year. There was a white label remix EP called Jimi Bazzouka Edits Vol. 1, remixes of 'Let ‘Em In', a 1976 Wings (Paul McCartney) song, the Rolling Stones 'Hot Stuff', and the epic 'Troglodyts' by The Jimmy Castor Bunch, and more recently, Alter Ego’s 'Why Not?'! for Klang Electronic.
 
Monsters & Silly Songs, Joakim’s third fill-length, was close to a rock album with influences ranging from John Carpenter, Neu, Aphex Twin and Arthur Russell. The album was cut from live performances of the producer’s first efforts in a band context, also features the delicate piano instrumental, Tanabata. Joakim now performs live shows with his Ectoplasmic Band, in which he plays keyboards, guitar and sings. Band members are: Mark Kerr (drums), Maxime Delpierre (guitar) and Juan Deguillebon (bass).
 
> Website Joakim
> Joakim on Myspace
> Website Monsters and Silly Songs
> Joakim on K7 Records
 
Appearances:
> CTM.08 > UNUSAL CONFIGURATIONS